Communication is as important to society as water. It seems like a head-scratcher of a statement but when you break it down it may just be true. Without water, humans cannot exist in society. Is it any different with communication? If no one communicated with each other, this society wouldn’t function. Why is there a difference? Why is one more important? My point is that they are both imperative for survival as a society. But communication has changed. Communication and smartphones now have this major tie that many people misunderstand. Many people, especially teenagers, now think of smartphones as the main way of communication. This has turned into a problem because these smartphones are becoming addictive.

The problem with teenagers talking primarily via text message or social media on their phones is that when it comes time for a real-life conversation, they are heavily unprepared. Many teenagers fear these very conversations because they do not occur as much as they did 20 years ago for the last generation of teenagers. This is what is called social anxiety. As discussed in my essay, social anxiety is the “fear of social situations that involve interactions with other people”. This is a big problem because smartphones are now directly affecting many teenagers’ mental health negatively. Social anxiety would not have been considered a “major problem” 20 years ago. Smartphones have brought a lot of harm and made it a lot more difficult to create and maintain meaningful relationships.

In the world we live in today, people are more likely to have an addiction. One major addiction, is the dependence on their smartphones. Some signs of the dependence are as follows “lack of impulse control, use of the mobile phone to avoid unpleasant mood states, problems derived from the use of the mobile phone, abuse of the mobile phone (as shown by the number of daily calls, messages, ‘missed’ calls or ‘beeps’) and the amount of time invested daily in both calls and messages”. Smartphone use can get dangerous if it gets to this level, just like any other addiction. We need to learn to control this addiction before it gets to be too late. 

When cellphones were first introduced, many people were amazed that the advances in technology had brought us to this special time. They felt that we were so lucky and that these advances would be life changing. They were not wrong. These advances were life changing. The question now becomes, did it change our lives for the good or for the bad? Without diving deep into this much bigger question, we can agree that there are a lot of positives and quite a few negatives to smartphones. With regards to communication, it is clear that smartphones have worsened communication in our current era.

The average length of a song is usually just over a few minutes. But with the right lyrics, the meaning can make a song feel eternal. An artist who is guilty of doing this on numerous occasions is Eminem. Eminem has many times been called a lyrical genius. He again came up with a masterpiece in the fall of 2017 when he teamed up with Beyoncè for the first song on the album “Revival”. 

This was a time in the career of Eminem where many people had many different opinions on who he was and what stage his career was it. He starts by saying that no matter what he comes out with, fans will always find a way to criticize him. This is evident when he says, “Knowing that no matter what bars I come with you’re gonna hark, gripe, and that’s a hard Vicodin to swallow. So I scrap these, as pressure increases, like khakis feel the ice cracking.”

Eminem also says that he spent a lot of time questioning himself, and not feeling particularly confident in his abilities when he said “Always in search of the verse I haven’t spit yet, will this step just be another mis step”. 

As the song comes to a close, Eminem reveals that he does not want to just quit the rap game just because people are hating on when he says “Cause how do I, ever let this mic go without a fight”. This shows that Eminem isn’t going to just give into people’s opinions and just quit. He wants to finish his career on his own terms. 

The chorus of the song shows a perfect metaphor for exactly what Eminem is going through. He talks about how people call him “God-like”. He says he is not God-like because the only time he can walk on water (the name of the song), is when it freezes. This part of the song is written and performed by Beyonce and truly depicts how Eminem feels. That is why this was a great duet between 2 of the most famous artist ever. 

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.